A Short History of How
Robert Brinsmead's Writings
Helped Transform the
Worldwide Church of God

 

Robert Brinsmead wrote a number of articles during the 1980's on the topic of the sabbath, the law, legalism and cult behavior. His perspective and mindset was that of a sabbatarian, and for that reason his writings had particular impact for the Worldwide Church of God (WCG).

The sabbath was one of the closest held beliefs of the Worldwide Church of God. The WCG shares a common Millerite church ancestry with the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) both come from a common church in the 1800s.

Robert Brinsmead was never a Worldwide Church of God member. His detractors in the WCG couldn't dismiss him as having subversive motives in regards to the Worldwide Church of God for he was never a member. The doctrinal changes he failed to make in the SDA church, he succeeded indirectly making in the Worldwide Church of God, although the WCG balked at Brinsmead's concept of their being no need for a church acting as intercessor with God.

Earl Williams, a former WCG pastor in Atlanta, first distributed photocopies of Brinsmead's writings 1993 in an effort to teach his sabbbatarian congregation the New Covenant Grace of Jesus Christ. I was in that congregation and digitized and distributed electronic copies of Sabbatarianism Re-Examined via the Internet to various WCG electronic mailing lists. This ignited such a storm of doctrinal inquiry from the members of the WCG that the leaders of the WCG sent the entire WCG ministry copies of the Brinsmead article.

The leadership of the WCG had long known about and in many cases believed what Robert Brinsmead wrote, at least as far as the sabbath is concerned, but hadn't told the church at large about using it as their source documents for their positions on doctrinal changes. People have speculated that this was because Brinsmead threatens corporate churches with his emphasis on their being no intercessor between man and God but Jesus.

As with anyone who has gone against a church's traditional dogma, Robert Brinsmead has garnered his share of accusations from the Seventh Day Adventists and SDA splinter groups and from some former Worldwide Church of God members. He's been called a "new ager", an "atheist. Brinsmead made a series of tapes using the title "A Christian Atheistic Manifesto" as a literary attention getting device. Robert Brinsmead is atheistic to the concepts of a hell fire, ever angry God, but he does believe in the God of the Bible, the one Jesus called Abba Father.

Recently his views have been called pantheist and also panentheist. It seems his detractors prefer label him rather than to do honest research.

Robert Brinsmead's effect on the Worldwide Church of God has stirred fears among Seventh Day Adventist theologians. Andrews University Scholar Samuelle Bacchiocchi has abandonded traditional Seventh Day Adventist isolationism and allied himself with the United Church of God. He is also active on many WCG mailing lists, promoting his sabbath books.

Dr Bacchiocci, apparently in an effort to head off Brinsmead's influence on the Seventh Day Adventists, attends sabbath seminars sponsored by United Church of God and sells his sabbath books to many former WCG members. He's made a lot of money out of the organizational split in the Worldwide Church of God. The United Church of God split from the Worldwide Church of God in May 1995 when the Worldwide Church of God declared that the Sabbath was not "THE SIGN" or "The Wall of Division" of who is a Christian and who is not.

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Enjoy!

William Ferguson